The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday brought to a close the latest legal challenge filed by a factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, after he formally applied to withdraw the case.
At the resumed proceedings, Anyanwu’s counsel, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, informed the court that developments surrounding the matter had rendered the suit irrelevant.
According to him, continuing with the case would serve no useful purpose, as it had been overtaken by events. He urged the court to allow the withdrawal in the interest of justice and judicial economy.
The controversy over the PDP National Secretary position arose after Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, which he eventually lost. His subsequent attempt to return to the position triggered internal disputes within the party, with Sunday Udeh-Okoye emerging as a rival claimant to the office.
On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu affirmed earlier decisions of the Federal High Court that removed Anyanwu and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the PDP’s substantive National Secretary. Anyanwu challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court and also sought a stay of execution.
In March 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the judgments of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, restoring Anyanwu. However, the leadership dispute persisted, with factions within the party continuing to assert control over the PDP national secretariat.
To clarify his status, Anyanwu later filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the enforcement of his position and other reliefs. In November 2025, the court allowed an amendment of the originating summons but ordered him to pay N30,000 in costs to each of the defendants. The case was then adjourned to January 20, 2026.
When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, Anyanwu opted to discontinue the suit.
Reacting, counsel to the second defendant, Akintayo Balogun, argued that the case should never have been filed and urged the court to dismiss it with costs, demanding N1 million. Other defence lawyers, including M. O. Akpan, Ugochukwu Okanu and J. A. Musa, aligned with the submission and requested costs ranging from N1 million to N1.5 million.
In response, Anyanwu’s counsel maintained that the withdrawal was not a voluntary abandonment of the case but was necessitated by circumstances beyond his client’s control. He appealed to the court to allow all parties to bear their respective costs.
In his ruling, the presiding judge dismissed the suit, noting that issues had already been joined by the parties.
Addressing the requests for costs, the court declined all applications, ruling that none of the parties was responsible for the delay or developments that led to the withdrawal.
“The situation made it so,” the judge held, adding that no costs would be awarded.
